Once again, as we approach the New Year, I thought the time was right to look back at this year's accomplishments. As is true every year, there have been numerous successes and milestones, so let the list go on...

The reconstruction of the car body of Capital Traction 522 (American Car 1898) was completed in November 2014. The project was done under contract with Keith Bray and funded by a variety of private and public donations. Next step is fabrication of a standard gauge Lord Baltimore truck using parts traded with Baltimore Streetcar Museum. BSM receives the standard gauge Brill 21E frame that was under CTCo 522 when the car was converted to a rail grinder.

The mechanical restoration of the air compressor for Third Avenue Railway System 678 (TARS Shops 1939) was completed in 2014. Volunteers installed the compressor on the car in November 2014. Car and compressor have been successfully tested and the car will return to service after a 20-year restoration project (long saga best shared over dinner).

Wesley

omar

Post subject: Re: 2014: A Year of Accomplishments

Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 9:22 am

Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:25 amPosts: 133Location: Across the river from Baldwin's on the Naugy

It has to be the gathering of the cab-unit clan at NCTM, Spencer NC this year.

Many restored units made it down there for public display and operation.

Can't get better than that!

car57

Post subject: Re: 2014: A Year of Accomplishments

Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 11:42 am

Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2009 4:12 amPosts: 687Location: cheyenne

The first public showing of my Caboose 2516 built in 1913....rescued from utter dereliction 3 years ago and restored in earnest over the last year and a half.....seeing old UP employees sitting in there recounting stories and drinking coffee off a hot stove and telling me how the atmosphere has been captured.....i think it cant get better than that !

Mike Pannell

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Al Stangenberger

Post subject: Re: 2014: A Year of Accomplishments

Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2014 1:28 am

Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2004 12:59 pmPosts: 529

In September, the shop crew at the Western Railway Museum completed exterior restoration of Key System 563 (ex Manhattan Railway 889). This involved rebuilding both end platforms and painting the car into the colors used while it was in service during World War II hauling workers from Oakland to the Kaiser Shipyard in Richmond, CA.

Together with Key System 561 (ex Manhattan Railway 844) we now have a static display of an authentic 2-car Shipyard Railway train. These 1887 Gilbert cars (electrified about 1903) were used on the elevated railways of New York City, and were in a storage line when World War II broke out. A large group was sent west for wartime service.

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tim o'm

Post subject: Re: 2014: A Year of Accomplishments

Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2014 12:49 pm

Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2004 3:24 pmPosts: 444Location: Scranton, PA

Thank you for starting this thread, Rainier Rails. Some of the years in the past, I have begun such a thread, and it is not always easy to see through the good and bad to make sense of it all. The preservation movement is ongoing. No project ever ends unless it is torn down or scrapped.A lot of positive things happened in 2014 in Northeastern PA, and no one group lays claim to doing it all.In Scranton's Steamtown, we began the year mourning the passing of Kip Hagen, the superintendent for the past dozen years. With the acting superintendent, Bill Leonard and the permanent replacement Debbie Conway, a fresh breeze has come into the park. All the partner agreements are being updated, and a lot is in the works for 2015. One big plus in the partnerships took place yesterday, as the LHVA Santa Train, which formerly ended its run at a nearby parking lot to a group of maybe 200 or so people, arrived directly in Steamtown, with well over 500 people taking part.The Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley chapter, NRHS ran a very successful train in May called the Vosburg Flyer, taking in around 100 miles of Lehigh Valley, Central of New Jersey and Lackawanna trackage in a 9-hour time period or so. The Reading & Northern was very efficient in getting this trip over the line, with a bit of decent speeds, and a run through the Vosburg Tunnel. The Erie Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation Society actually ran excursions along with some stationary Dinner in the Diner events. This crew is very enthusiastic, and is still running some very successful Santa Trains this month. News in the fall came in that the Stourbridge Line excursions in Honesdale, PA may return in a year or two. The Anthracite Railroads Historical Society was able to rebuild and re-paint their "Lackawanna F3B" unit in time to travel with 2 A units to the Streamliner event in Spencer, NC. Among the 30 or so assembled units, this trio stood out. All units on the move created a buzz among the railfans in the nation. ARHS is planning to have all 3 Fs operational sometime this coming year. With rewiring taking place on the B unit, and a rebuilt compressor and generators for Tri-State Chapter's F3 663, they will make quite a sight running through the Poconos together.ARHS also began body work on their FA2 recently. The hope is to have her in good condition for their convention in Scranton in September. Her prime mover and traction motors are in decent shape considering she hasn't moved since the 1980s. The Nicholson Heritage Association began celebrating the centennial of the concrete Tunkhannock Creek Viaduct. The ultimate celebration is in September 2015, possibly coinciding with the ARHS convention.A lot in the works. This has been a year of frustrations and disappointments. But with Baldwin steam engine 26 finally sealed up enough to hold steam pressure as of a few days ago, the mood has brightened in our area tremendously.

To add to my above post. I know there have been many cool things happening that I did not mention, such as the Jersey Central 113 trains, Reading & Northern's 425, the opening of the Colebrookdale Railroad, and the 30th anniversary of the North Shore lines. Rail preservation pockets are opening up all over the area. I just don't know as much about them as I do with what is most local to me.

It has to be the gathering of the cab-unit clan at NCTM, Spencer NC this year.

Many restored units made it down there for public display and operation.

Can't get better than that!

On that note, The Lake Superior Railroad Museum and North Shore Scenic Railroad used the invitation of their FP7 Soo Line 2500 to Spencer as incentive to complete much needed radiator repair. The locomotive is now fully operational and was actually pressed into service several times this summer and fall with the museum's other F unit, Erie Mining Company 4211. Just the other day, the two teamed up to run a special excursion to Knife River, the first passenger service on the North Shore Scenic Railroad north of town in 'winter' in almost 20 years

The Shore Line Trolley Museum received the Association of Tourist Railroads and Railway Museum's Achievement Award for their Elevating the Collection project. The award was presented to Shore Line in November, 2014 at the Saturday annual meeting and banquet held in Tyler, Texas.

Here are two photos of the progress through October, 2014. Connecticut Company No. 775 is shown as the first car to be stored in one of the two display buildings constructed.

|For the Niagara Railway Museum Inc. it has been an incredibly productive year. In October we were finally able to move our final piece of equipment into our shop, the former Canadian National diesel shop in Fort Erie. For the first time since we started back in 1996, we actually have all of our equipment on one site. So in addition to continued restoration of equipment, we managed to get our Whiting 2TMA Trackmobile back in service, which included all new bearings in the transmission.

In cooperation with the Welland Historical Museum we were able to move and help preserve the Atlas Steel Porter Fireless locomotive, which was located at the Fort Erie Railroad Museum, and was planned to be scrapped. This particular locomotive is built to 30" gauge, and also includes a small ingot car.

The biggest project of the year was moving our 3 ex-CP Rail 40' boxcars to the site. They had been moved by rail from Niagara Falls to Stevensville a year ago, but had to make the final journey by truck. It was a tough time trying to set up the move as there were low overhead wires, and no real easy direct route. But they too are all on site now, and we can now start working on them.

The final piece was moving the cab of CN F7Au #9173, which was acquired from the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa. The cab was going to be scrapped, when we were able to move it to our site. Many of her sisters were maintained in our shop. Would be great to have the complete unit, but the cab will do for now.

So for us, it was a great 2014. With all of our equipment on site, it allows us to change our focus for 2015 and work on other aspects of the Museum. http://www.nfrm.ca

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File comment: CP 401258 is loaded onto the truck for the trip to the shop.rypn1.jpg [ 183.77 KiB | Viewed 24307 times ]

Thank you for starting this thread, Rainier Rails. Some of the years in the past, I have begun such a thread, and it is not always easy to see through the good and bad to make sense of it all. The preservation movement is ongoing. No project ever ends unless it is torn down or scrapped.A lot of positive things happened in 2014 in Northeastern PA, and no one group lays claim to doing it all.In Scranton's Steamtown, we began the year mourning the passing of Kip Hagen, the superintendent for the past dozen years. With the acting superintendent, Bill Leonard and the permanent replacement Debbie Conway, a fresh breeze has come into the park. All the partner agreements are being updated, and a lot is in the works for 2015. One big plus in the partnerships took place yesterday, as the LHVA Santa Train, which formerly ended its run at a nearby parking lot to a group of maybe 200 or so people, arrived directly in Steamtown, with well over 500 people taking part.The Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley chapter, NRHS ran a very successful train in May called the Vosburg Flyer, taking in around 100 miles of Lehigh Valley, Central of New Jersey and Lackawanna trackage in a 9-hour time period or so. The Reading & Northern was very efficient in getting this trip over the line, with a bit of decent speeds, and a run through the Vosburg Tunnel. The Erie Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation Society actually ran excursions along with some stationary Dinner in the Diner events. This crew is very enthusiastic, and is still running some very successful Santa Trains this month. News in the fall came in that the Stourbridge Line excursions in Honesdale, PA may return in a year or two. The Anthracite Railroads Historical Society was able to rebuild and re-paint their "Lackawanna F3B" unit in time to travel with 2 A units to the Streamliner event in Spencer, NC. Among the 30 or so assembled units, this trio stood out. All units on the move created a buzz among the railfans in the nation. ARHS is planning to have all 3 Fs operational sometime this coming year. With rewiring taking place on the B unit, and a rebuilt compressor and generators for Tri-State Chapter's F3 663, they will make quite a sight running through the Poconos together.ARHS also began body work on their FA2 recently. The hope is to have her in good condition for their convention in Scranton in September. Her prime mover and traction motors are in decent shape considering she hasn't moved since the 1980s. The Nicholson Heritage Association began celebrating the centennial of the concrete Tunkhannock Creek Viaduct. The ultimate celebration is in September 2015, possibly coinciding with the ARHS convention.A lot in the works. This has been a year of frustrations and disappointments. But with Baldwin steam engine 26 finally sealed up enough to hold steam pressure as of a few days ago, the mood has brightened in our area tremendously.

Tim, I believe you forgot the first test fire of BLW #26. While not a completed restoration (yet), the fact that this is the first time in over 15 years she has felt a fire in her belly is nothing to be ignored :)

_________________Mark Z. YerkesAmateur Rail Historian

BSOR Patarak

Post subject: Re: 2014: A Year of Accomplishments

Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2014 10:34 am

Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2008 10:11 amPosts: 57Location: Cattaraugus, NY

The complete restoration of Lehigh & New England 514 4 wheeled bobber caboose by the owner of Viscose #6. It's first public outing and excursion was at Steam Railroad Institutes' Trainfest 2014

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